


A Commander and Her ARC Trooper

by Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 00:33:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13042803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: A series of scenes as Fives and Ahsoka work together in the aftermath of her trial and Tup's death.





	A Commander and Her ARC Trooper

She couldn't have a vision, had to focus on the Jedi Council members. There was an apology… and more words.

And the vision refused to stop, even as Master Windu spoke of Trials, and what that would mean for her when she came back to them.

Images of Jedi dying, the Temple burning, her master—

NO!

With a solid shake of her head and flick of her lekku, she brought herself back to the present and made her choice. It was killing her to walk away, to know how hurt the one man that believed in her was, but, someday, he would understand.

* * *

He was tired. He was hungry. His head was completely a mess, and he knew they were going to kill him. It didn't really matter. He'd been a dead man walking since the moment he'd interfered with Tup and wound up on this path.

Fives didn't care if he died, so long as he got the warning to someone he trusted. He just needed to get to—

He was startled out of his single track by someone snatching him by the arm, easily blocking and catching the swing he instinctively threw, legs twisted to block the following kick. Then his brain kicked in, and he recognized his assailant.

"Commander!" he hissed.

"Shh, come quick, follow just where I go exactly," she told him, before leading him further and further away from the pursuit… and the ones he needed to tell.

Yet he followed, because she was his Commander, and he trusted her.

* * *

Ahsoka listened to the entire ordeal, then made Fives sit down and eat something before he slept. They were fairly safe here, at least for the moment. This tied to her visions, she knew, but who to trust to actually fix it? She couldn't just abduct troopers to get a chip and experiment on it, and Fives no longer had the one he'd gotten removed.

How did her Master figure into it all, though? She had clearly seen him as the aggressor, marching on the Temple. How—

Her blood ran cold in her veins as she glimpsed the truth, and she realized that she had to find help, and find it fast. One man ranked above all others, and that one man had all of her Master's trust. The kind of order that could turn the men on the Jedi could only come from that one man, no matter how much Fives had dodged around telling her that part.

Maybe he was afraid to tell her, in case they were caught. Or maybe the flash training was fighting it.

Either way, they were both in danger, and so was every single person they cared for, not to mention the very Republic they fought for.

* * *

There was a bounty hunter in the twilight levels that was probably looking for their gear by this point, but Ahsoka hardly cared. She'd needed it worse than they did, and they really shouldn't have gotten pass-out drunk down here. She looked at Fives in the gear, smiled at the fact that the bulk of it masked his height and build to a degree, then wrapped herself in the plain brown poncho she had acquired earlier in the week.

No one knew she was still on planet; she had given her ident card to Asajj in exchange for one the bounty hunter had forged, and let her use it to leave Coruscant. That had been a risk, but she had owed the woman. Fives was known to be alone, and clones weren't expected to think so well on their feet.

Ahsoka felt they could do this.

"Let's go, vod. Remember, keep the modulator on, and don't speak in Mando'a," she said.

"You best remember that too, vod'ika," he said, much better for rest and food.

* * *

Several relays later, the pair were finally in sight of the destination they had chosen, and had only had to dodge two patrols. Fortunately, Ahsoka's control of the Force was fine enough that no one had been seriously hurt in one of those dodges, when she had pulled something down at the other end of the alley for a distraction.

"What if they don't believe me? Master Ti didn't seem to."

"We're not dealing with the Council." Ahsoka aimed them for a service entrance she had found in her exploration. Once inside, she could get them to the person she wanted. She trusted him, trusted in his way of thinking to help them save everyone.

"If not Master Sinube, we make for the healers, and talk to Master Che. She's tough but fair, and she's my second choice in this."

"Yes sir."

* * *

They wound up with both of Ahsoka's choices. They had reached Master Sinube, doing research, and Master Nu had been pulled in by suspecting something was wrong in her Archives. Fortunately, both elderly Jedi were of a mind to listen to the wayward padawan, having worked with her in the past.

The two had aided Ahsoka and Fives in reaching the healers, where they all now sat, while Fives explained, from the horrific death of a Jedi at a brother's hands to what he had experienced both on Kamino and Coruscant.

This time, he laid the accusation.

"The Chancellor… it has to be him. I don't want to believe it, but, who else could give an order above our Jedi?"

Master Sinube pondered as the two ladies looked aghast. Then he nodded, and surprisingly Master Nu sighed aloud and agreed.

"The Senate would never agree to such a matter without it reaching Jedi ears before they did. It would have to be a swift, decisive action. Possibly the Vice-Chancellor could, but I have more doubts on his capability than on the Chancellor," she said.

"Trooper, let me see your data," Master Che said, and he held out the data wafer. 

"Sorry it's not the chip itself, sir," he apologized.

"Oh, I'll get one of those shortly," she promised, eyes glinting with heat at the idea of such a nefarious trap.

"You two must remain sequestered," Master Sinube said. "The fewer who know you made it here, the better we all will be."

"Master Nu, can you set them up in one of your sealed archives, or should we use my isolation chamber?" Master Che asked.

"Oh Force, no, Vokara! We will put them in my quarters off of the Archives; no one ever disturbs me these days!" Master Nu said, causing Ahsoka to grin a little.

"You'll let us help, when it's time, right?" Ahsoka asked.

"Always one for action, young one," Master Sinube chided. "But yes, you and your man will be part of the end."

* * *

Vokara looked at Senator Chuchi and then Padawan Tano, having gathered the Senator up and taken her to where the young Togruta was hiding. It didn't matter that Ahsoka had not officially been reunited to her master; the healer was giving her full courtesy as a Jedi because her heart plainly was that of a servant of the Force.

"The plan, given your familiarity with each other, is to make it seem as if Ahsoka is your newly hired bodyguard. Only, she is going to be infected with a mild virus. One that happens to thrive in the presence of midichlorians. 

"You will need to be certain to help her get close enough to the Chancellor, Senator. If our suspicions are correct, he should become ill within hours of contact, and it's doubtful he's ever been vaccinated as the virus is rare and the Jedi are possibly the only ones who have truly studied it," Vokara explained.

"Will Ahsoka be alright?" Riyo asked.

Ahsoka grinned. "It will be the second time I've had it, so it won't be so bad; it went through the creche when I was four."

"What about me?" Fives asked, having listened intently and not liked the idea of splitting off.

"You will be provided with armor and a false ident chip," Vokara told him, before producing a small canister. "You need to release this into air mixer of the Home Guard's quarters."

"What will it do?" Fives asked, worried about his brothers, even if they weren't regular army.

"It has a virus as well, one that has nanites in it programmed to disable the chip's neural connections while giving the men a mild case of the flu to cover the headache it will make," she told him. "Thus cutting their availability to respond swiftly, and freeing them of the Order. Yes, the nanites were sent to all units that were trustworthy."

"All my brothers—"

"Not your brothers, Trooper Fives. The Fleet men that have their command in some cases, and the Jedi are working to deliver it to even them, but with caution," Vokara told him.

"So once the Chancellor is sick, what happens?" Riyo asked.

Vokara smiled. "Leave that to us, Senator."

"Remind me to never, ever get on a healer's bad side," Ahsoka said.

* * *

"I've never seen a non-Force user come down with Chithian Fever," Stass Allie said, loud enough that the entire retinue and press corps and attending Senators could hear her. "I hope my vaccinations hold; I'd hate to see it go through our younglings again."

Chancellor Sheev Palpatine felt a touch of panic, before a spasm wracked him, and the chills pressed in along his spine again. The press was quickly researching, and he needed to get out of here.

"It is a very distinctive marking it brings out on the skin," a reporter said, his crew trying to see the raspberry red flourishes appearing on the Chancellor's face and hands.

"I am ill," he managed to say, trying to get his entourage to get him out of this trap.

"With a virus that feeds off midichlorians, apparently, Chancellor," one of the nearby Senators said. "Care to explain that?"

The Force was crashing in on him, refusing to come to his command, refusing to show him the way out of this…

…how could his end come like this?

* * *

Ahsoka bumped her forehead to Fives' in appreciation of a plan gone right. Soon, they would both be able to go home, back to where they belonged, and no more visions.

"He literally just panicked and screeched for the guards to kill them all?" Fives asked.

"Yep. I was sitting with Riyo, and I do feel bad for the boys all dealing with the flu, but… it saved lives? I didn't realize Chithian Fever disrupted the Force so badly. Because he did this… pathetic static pop thing and then kind of passed out. The Senate has to decide his fate, but he's in custody, and things are being investigated properly."

He shifted to get his arm around her, keeping the blanket tucked around her. "How do you feel?"

"Like poodoo. Second round or not, this sucks," she said, laughing a little. "But, I don't mind a bit."

"I'll take care of you, until you're better, and we go home," he promised her.

"I know. It's what we do."


End file.
